Penrith skipper James Tamou and coach Ivan Cleary approached NRL referee Ashley Klein in the tunnel at halftime of their side's 30-18 loss to the Raiders at Penrith Stadium on Sunday.

The clash was sparked after star James Maloney, who fills in as captain when Tamou comes off the field, menaced Klein in the first half and confronted the referee after both sides came together before halftime, and was warned to calm down.

“You as captain are not setting a very good example,” Klein told Maloney.

'Not setting a very good example'

But after a fiery first half and a melee between the two teams, Klein was confronted by Tamou at halftime, and the heated discussion then spilt into the tunnel and intensified.

It was there Panthers coach Cleary was involved in an exchange with the match officials.

It’s believed it will not go into the NRL’s official match report and Cleary will escape a fine for the incident.

“I went to speak to our captain Jimmy Tamou to get him to talk to the refs — which he did,” Cleary said in the post-match press conference.

“It was nothing untoward. I just wanted to clarify something which probably happens every week.